A PROTEST was held outside Woodhouse Eaves village hall after the old Scout hut was demolished to make way for a new extension.

Woodhouse Eaves Parish Council and Woodhouse Eaves Scouts have clashed over the last few weeks over the proposals, which saw their former Scout hut reduced to rubble on Monday, January 19.

The Scouts, which have used the hut behind the village hall for 50 years, were asked to vacate the building by the parish council so a new extension could be built.

The parish council says the new extension would house many local groups and organisations, of which the Scouts would be given “priority use.”

However, the Scouts argue they had been fund-raising for a new Scout hut, not a community facility, and had accumulated £28,000 for that purpose.

The parish council argues differently and believes that no promise was made for just a Scout hut.

A protest took place outside the village hall on Monday by parents and children who attend the group as well as Coun Simon Sansome, prospective parliamentary candidate for Charnwood. He said: “As the Scouts are the main occupiers of the building they should have a say on what is good for the village and the community.”

The parish council has organised a public meeting at the village hall at 7.30pm on Monday, January 26, of which the whole community are invited to discuss the matter.

Graham Cameron, chair of the Woodhouse Eaves Scout Group, told the Echo: “There is going to be a public meeting so we will attend that and see what happens then. There was a protest on Monday, it was mainly parents and children. There is quite a lot of feeling in the village about it, but for us we need to decide which way forward to go. We would like to see what the public want us to do at the meeting.

“We could try to come to an agreement with the parish council or could find somewhere else.

“We just want somewhere to meet, which we have always wanted, and we are not convinced what we will have will deliver that.”

Ann Irving, clerk for the parish council, told the Echo: “Some of the residents and the Scout group have got the idea we have changed things and it should just be a Scout hut we are building, but it should be available to the whole community.

“We have tried to explain that. We were assured the money in their bank was going to come to this project – but they have said ‘you are not having it.’”